Thursday, May 4, 2017

Experiment #5: Write a story in media res

"Leo, you don't have to do this," I placed my space phone on the counter and let the holograph of Leo enter the space surrounding it. He looked a little older than he did when I left him to come to the new planet of Lires last year. His hair had grown out and now fell in a dark halo framing his face. He was taller and more muscular. I couldn't imagine what he must have gone through in his undercover military training. He didn't like to talk much about it, so I didn't ask. His normally bronzed skin had become three shades darker, probably from the amount of time he spent running outside in his free time. The only thing that had really remained unchanged were his piercing blue eyes. I could see his childhood self in them still.
"Liv, no offense, but you're gonna get yourself killed if you try to go into this Hexa Palace invasion alone," he pleaded with me,"and no one knows you better than I do. I will know exactly how to cover you when you let a guard steal your blaster right out of your hands."
He always joked around like that; especially when he was stressed about something and this definitely qualified as a Leo stressor, "That was one time! You can't hold that over me forever."
"One time, my butt. If I let you go into the palace alone, we both know the first thing to go will be your blaster. Oh, and by the way, never letting that one go," his blinking holograph paced across my counter.
Leo had a point, not that I would ever admit that to him. Going into the Hexa Palace alone was a big risk, even for me. I had been training for this for years, but I wasn't exactly sure if any amount of preparation would set me up to win against a fleet of palace guards and the Hexa military. The truth was I would have loved to have Leo by my side for the mission; the two of us had always been most successful together. General Axel always told us that while we could probably each save a nation alone, we had the power to save the whole galaxy together. This was just the first time we were actually placed in a situation that required us to save the galaxy which basically put the whole universe on our shoulders...literally. The real reason I didn't want Leo to join me was because I didn't want to lose my best friend. He was dangerously impulsive. I knew that if Leo got hurt or worse I could't forgive myself. I would rather die myself than watch him lose his life for us.
"If you promise me that you'll-," that was all I got out of my mouth before I watched hologram Leo start jumping up and down on my counter as he punched the air.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you, Liv! I won't let you do and I promise I will be careful and use my brain...occasionally! Liv and Leo off to save the universe! I'm so happy I could kiss you!" he was talking so fast, I could hardly keep up with him, but that last part made my face burn red.
Hoping he would't see, I turned my face and pretended to be searching for something on the table in front of me. Once I was sure my face was no longer the color of a rose, I turned back to face Leo's hologram,"Alright, be here by morning. I will meet you at The Star Tavern. We have a universe to save."